Hannah and Cherie, reunited after traveling in Thailand a month together.

Hannah relaxing.

There's our hut, covered in flower petals.

Bali really is everything the travel books rave about.

The huts below.

A newly married couple admires the view.

Mick smiles in his self-built piece of paradise.

After sliding down the muddy trail (look at my leg), I examine the beach below.

The water feels so good!

The beautiful earth meets the gorgeous sky.

I like it here! I like it a lot.

A fisherman untangles his net.

Those knots take a long time to get out.

Margaret by the Indian Ocean.

Hannah getting her feet wet.

Cherie in the water.

Don't trip on that rock! Or is that a boulder?

Beauty and the beach.

A fisherman wades through the waves.

He lays out his net.

We watch as the fisherman attends to the net's minor details.

This shot was taken exactly one second after the fisherman grabbed Hannah's breast.

After feeling Hannah up, the men go back to fishing.

Why does amazing beauty so often have to include amazing spiders?

Hannah gets a double massage.

Annie is one of the friendly employees at Mick's Place.

Cherie and Hannah on edge.

Land, sea and friendship.

Cherie near Pura Luhur Ulu Watu.

Hannah and Cherie enjoying the view at Ulu Watu.

Hey, hey we're the monkeys.

Why does Hannah bother doing her hair?

Vertigo.

Cherie and Hannah.

What?

The wild cliffs of Ulu Watu.

Beauty that steals you breath.

Monkeys near Ulu Watu.

A monkey and her baby watching the sunset.

A temple with a view.

The monkeys gather to watch the sunset.

Villagers perform a Kecak dance near the Ulu Watu temple.

In the warm light of the sunset, the girls dance.

You don't have to know what's going on to be entertained by a Balinese dance performance.

You never know what's going to pop out next.

Wild fires at sunset.

Cherie with two Balinese dancers.

Cherie at the edge of the infinity pool near Mick's Place in Bingin, near Ulu Watu, Bali.

Cherie and Margaret enjoy a Balinese sunset.

The last dinner with our friend Nyomen.

cherie writes: I rarely write about hotels. They don't interest me. It's the people that define a country. It's the food, the smells, the writing, and the art. The hotels are merely where you sleep to absorb the essence of the culture.

But I am making an exception for Mick's Place in Bingin, near Ulu Watu, Bali. Mick's Place isn't a hotel, it is one Austrailian surfer's dream come true. It is four huts and an infinity pool precariously placed on a cliff overlooking the vast Indian Ocean. Huts isn't the right word. Maybe "five-star huts" describes the place better. Sure, there is no electricity. But the huts are lit by the soft glow of stars and candles.
Margaret spent her last day in Bali there and Hannah spent her first. After dropping Margaret off at the airport, I picked Hannah (who flew in from Thailand to travel with me) a few hours later. Mick's Place is a hotel-hut that its privileged guests never forget.